Pompon winding form



Dec. 3, 1968 N. s. MILLAY POMPON WINDING FORM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 19, 1966 In z/enfor A/orma 6. Mi/Zay 5y her A tiorl? Dec. 3, 1968 N. s. MILLAY POMPON WINDING FORM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 19, 1966 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 3,413,699 POMPON WINDING FORM Norma S. Millay, 26 Laurel St., Beverly, Mass.

Filed Sept. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 580,380 2 Claims. (Cl. 282) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to devices for forming pompons of flexible yarn and other more or less elastic strands.

The principal object of the invention is to simplify and improve procedures required for winding pompons so that greater efficiency can be obtained in the use of the yarn or strand employed and a greater number of pompons can be prepared by a relatively unskilled worker while maintaining uniformity of results.

In the winding of pompons the operations involved in successive steps, such as laying the filling strands together, cutting the strands into uniform lengths and tying the cut lengths at their centers to give a bunch of strands with their ends in proper alignment and uniformly spaced from their centers, so that no final trimming or other adjustments are required, cannot easily be accomplished. Such results have heretofore been possible only by utilizing technics obtainable by expensive and time consuming training of workers.

A primary difficulty encountered is in the elasticity of the strands used both in filling and tying a pompon, the filling strands tending to shift as they are being cut and the tying strands tending to compress the filling strands unevenly as they are being laid in place. Accordingly, some filling strands are stretched more than others before removal from a winding form. For this reason slippage and irregular displacement of the filling strands are likely to occur after the cutting operation, so that nonuniform readjustment of the filling strands takes place when the tensions are released upon removal from the form.

One object of the invention is to afford optimum results in forming extremely uniform pompons by providing a winding support of conveniently manufactured design, in which a maximum quantity of filling strands may be squeezed together and retained in position during strand cutting and tying operations, elasticity and compressibility of the filling strands acting resiliently to hold the filling strands against displacement until the pompon is completed rather than being a primary cause of the difficulty. For this and other purposes a winding form has been provided comprising a split washer shaped with a central open area Within which filling strands may be squeezed together during winding, the split at the ends forming a C and the ends being displaced from each other along a central axis of the washer about which the washer is concentric to provide space for passage of filling strands as they are wound about the circumferential length of the washer body and, to enable a tying strand to be applied to the form before the filling strands are wound about the washer body the outer edge of the washer body is provided with means for holding the tying strand in a V shape with its legs bridging across the open area of the body (see upper legs of tying strands in FIG. 3) to enable uniform resilient compression of the filling strands toward the body by the force of the tying strands as they are being wound.

These and other features of the invention, is hereinafter described and claimed will readily be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed specification and accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a winding form embodying the features of the present invention before any filling or tying strand is applied;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the winding form shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the winding form illustrating the manner of applying a tying strand to it;

FIG. 4 is a similar view of the winding form, illustrating the manner of winding the filling strands within an open area of the form;

FIG. 5 is a similar view showing the winding form after having been wound with filling strands;

FIG. 6 is a similar view of the form illustrating the manner of severing the filling strands to enable uniform lengths of filling strands to be secured in place by a tying strand; and

FIG. 7 is a similar view of the form, indicating the manner of removal and final tying of a completed pompon.

One of the greatest difficulties encountered in the manufacture of pompons is displacement of filling strands between the times of winding and removal of the completed pompon from a form, Between these two times the filling strands are severed, usually along one edge of the form and a tying strand is applied to hold the filling strands against such displacement. If displacement of the filling strands does occur then after the completely tied pompon has been removed it must be trimmed to bring all of its irregular ends into uniform conformity, any longer strands being trimmed to the same lengths as shorter ones. This may be a time consuming operation and may result in changing the sizes or appearances of successive pompons. Thus, where a matched set is required several pompons must be discarded or saved to match smaller ones eventuating later. Also, wastage of the strands may occur and keeping completed pompons free of trimmed bits of strands may consume considerable time and effort on the part of a worker. To avoid these difficulties the natural resiliency of the strands themselves is utilized to maintain them yieldingly in position. For this purpose the winding form, indicated in the drawings at 10, is constructed in the shape of a washer, the body of which has a central open area 12. The washer is circular in form with a central axis, about which the body is concentric, as indicated at 14 in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Contributing to the advantages gained by the present winding form the washer body 10 has a radial split 16 (FIG. 2.) to provide the ends of a C and the ends are displaced from each other along the central axis 14 to provide a wide space for passage of filling strands as they are wound about the circumferential length of the body, as better shown in FIG. 4. For convenience in utilizing the maximum space available for passage of the, filling strands during winding the washer body, it is constructed with its ends displaced equally and in opposite directions from a plane defined by the midportion, indicated at 18, of the body. In this way no special effort is required to hold the ends of the body temporarily displaced during winding and full attention may be given to the winding operation.

As shown in FIG. 1, the spacing of the ends of the washer body is approximately equal to the diameter of the central open area 12. By constructing the washer body in this way one end of the body may be held in the left hand of a worker, as shown in FIG. 4, and the strands being wound in the right hand, the strands passing through the space between ends during each rotation about the circumferential length of the body.

By displacing the ends of the washer body from each other, as illustrated, more than one strand of filling may be wound at a time. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the right hand of a worker is winding six separate strands 20 about the winding form, so that the Winding operation takes only one sixth as long as when a single strand is used. To prevent displacement of the filling strands between the times of winding and of removal of the pompon from the form the washer body .10 has applied to it a tying strand 22 under sufficient tension to form a V generally coinciding with the C shaped washer body but running across the open area 12 of the body. In applying the filling strands to the washer body the tension in the filling strands is sutficient to stretch the tying strand slightly, so that the filling strands are held under resilient compression as they are being wound, the filling strands tending to deflect the tying strand toward the adjacent inner edge, indicated at 24 in FIG. 4, of the washer.

To hold the tying strand in place on the washer body the outer edge of the body has a tab 26 projecting radially from its midportion 18 and both ends of the C, also at the outer edge are provided with two sets of paired prongs 28. In the use of the prongs 28 and the tab 26 a tying strand 22 in the form of a single reversely bent length of yarn may be inserted between one pair of prongs 28 along its loop and carried about the tab 26 until both free ends of tying yarn are inserted between the other pair of prongs 28, the prongs of each pair being sulficiently close together to form slots for Wedging the tying strand against slippage. Besides holding the tying strand 22 the tab and prongs also serve to hold the filling strands after being wound on the form against circumferential movement along the body of the washer.

As a further means of preventing slippage or other movement of the filling strands on the washer body 10 the inner edge of the body is provided with tines 29, which act to prevent escape of the filling strands from the ends of the C.

In the use of the form in winding pompons, after the tying strand 22 has been applied to the washer body 10 and the strands 20 are Wound in place, as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, the tying strand is stretched to enable its apex to be released from the tab 26, as illustrated in FIG. 5, and the loop is slipped off the lower prongs 28. The free ends of the tying strand and the loop are then brought together to form a half hitch 30. The half hitch provides a temporary connection for the ends of the tying strand. After temporarily connecting the ends the tying strand is tightened by pulling it in the direction of the arrows 31 in FIG. 5, thus stretching the filling strands and disengaging them from the inner edge 24 of the open area in the form. After giving the tying strands a further tension to close up any voids in the tying loop surrounding the filling strands they are severed by cutting them along the outer edge 32 of the washer body as a guide with a pair of scissors 33 (FIG. 6) or a suitable cutter. A second half hitch 34 is then formed permanently to hold the tying strand from releasing the filling strands (FIG. 7).

The form described is capable of quickly constructing pompons with exact uniformity with each other and without waste of filling material by reason of trimming after each pompon is completed, the resilient tension of the tying strand on the filling material preventing slippage of the filling while being cut and thus avoiding irregularities in the cut lengths of such material. Once the filling material is wound on the form no slippage or other displacement is likely to occur, since the resiliency of both filling and tying strands acts constantly in opposition to avoid displacement, the act of pulling the pompon free from the form also increasing the tension on the tying strand to grip the filling material more strongly against displacement.

The nature and scope of the invention having been set forth and a particular embodiment having been described, what is claimed is:

1. A form for supporting a pompon during winding, comprising a split washer shaped body having a central open area, the split forming ends of a C and said ends being displaced from each other along a central axis about which the body is concentric to provide space for passage of filling strands as they are wound about the circumferential length of the washer body and means on the outer edge of the washer body for holding a tying strand under tension in a V-form, generally coinciding with the C shaped washer body but bridging across the open area of the washer body to enable resilient compression of the filling strands as they are being wound.

2. A form, as in claim 1, in which the means for holding a tying strand consists of a tab at a midportion of the washer body and two sets of paired prongs at the ends of the C, between the prongs of each pair of which the tying strand is wedged, both tab and prongs projecting from the outer edge of the washer body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,317,914 4/ 1943 McIntyre 28-2 2,322,060 6/1943 Samuels 28-2 3,000,074 9/1961 Butkiewicz 28-2 3,110,077 11/1963 Spear 28-2 3,287,785 11/1966 Ciroli 28-2 FOREIGN PATENTS 143,157 10/ 1935 Austria.

99,074 10/ 1961 Norway.

LOUIS K. RIMRODT, Primary Examiner. 

